Look Back ... to the last of the 'iron horses,' 1949

Mar. 24—March 24, 1949, in The Star: Down at the Southern Railway shops yesterday afternoon, it was news when a 1948 diesel engine passed through Anniston taking a long line of "iron horses" — old engines ready for the scrapyard — to Haynes, S.C., where the final work is done. Veteran railroaders felt the poignant moment, and remembered the engines from their younger days. They were big, puffing, clanging, monstrous machines; some of them took the boys of World War I off to meet their respective destinies. Also this date: For those who follow the movies, tonight is a big night in radio programming, when the 21st Academy Awards will be broadcast locally in its entirety on WHMA radio, an ABC network affiliate, starting at 10 p.m [Spoiler alert: Best Picture of 1948 was Hamlet, and the Best Director was John Huston, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.]

March 24, 1999, in The Star: Calhoun County Commissioner Lea Fite said yesterday that he wants to examine selling Regional Medical Center to raise money for other needs. Issued in the form of a press release, his proposal came as a surprise to most other officials, although several had said they'd had private discussions about it in the last month or so. It wasn't entirely clear yesterday who has the power to sell the hospital, although it appears the Anniston City Council, which created RMC in 1974, would have to agree to a sale.